Zambia’s Constitutional Court Friday ruled that incumbent President Edgar Lungu is eligible to contest the 2021 polls.
The
court ruled that anything under "three years did not constitute a term"
and that the two years President Lungu spent in power after his
predecessor Michael Sata's death in 2015 did not count as such.
Supporters
of the ruling party Patriotic Front (PF) who had gathered outside the
court in the capital Lusaka burst into wild jubilations following the
ruling.
PF Secretary General
Davies Mwila told journalists that the verdict was a “victory for
President Lungu and now the country can focus on other national
issues”.
The judgement, however,
according to observers is likely to split the governing party as
opponents seeking to unseat Lungu as the party's flag bearer have been
kicked out or are on their way out.
Campaign materials declaring Lungu as the party’s candidate had been doled out months before Friday’s judgement.
Late last year, President Lungu warned the
judiciary that there would be chaos if he was barred from standing in
the 2021 poll saying they should not "copycat" Kenyan judges who plunged
the country into crisis after annulling President Uhuru Kenyatta's
victory in elections in August.
Lungu's
supporters maintain that he merely finished Sata's term and has been
serving his first term since his victory in the disputed August 2016
election.
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